Snider

Northern Bedford’s Nolin Snider finished second at 215 pounds in last year’s District 5 Tournament, and it appears he could be headed back to this year’s championship finals.

A year later, the senior is seeded second behind Everett’s Tyson Grove at 215. Grove pinned Snider in the Thomas Automotive Tournament, so Snider will have to find a way to turn the tables if they both make it to the finals.

“Nolin has been working very hard,” Northern Bedford coach Brian Dutchcot said. “He knows what he needs to do. We’ve been working on it for the last week-and-a-half or so, staying after practice a little bit here, a little bit there. He’s been working on technique and topping off the tank as far as conditioning goes.

“He knows this is last district tournament, so his mindset is one of the biggest things we’re working on right now. Once we get everything into place and ready to go, by Saturday we think he’ll be in a good spot.”

The tournament begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Bedford High School. The final session will start at 5 p.m. with District 5 Hall of Fame inductions and a parade of champions. The championship finals and consolation finals will follow at approximately 5:30.

The top three at every weight class advance to the Southwest Regional Tournament on Feb. 27-28 at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

The young Black Panthers will have to exceed their seeds. They have No. 3 seeds in freshmen Eli Dutchcot (114) and Knox Dibert (285). Freshman Weston Baker (107) and sophomore Brett Cottle (160) are No. 4 seeds.

“These guys have a chance,” Dutchcot said. “We put a good week of practice in this week. If we go in with the right attitude, I think these guys can advance to the regional tournament.”

The highly likely semifinal between Dibert (24-14) and Meyersdale’s Gianni Browne (25-13) is an intriguing one. They’ve already wrestled five times this season, with Browne holding a 3-2 advantage in those bouts.

“It seems like every tournament we wrestle in it seems like we run into him,” Dutchcot said. “You hate to look ahead, but you do a little bit. You think about the semifinal matchup. We’d love to even that series, get the win and move on to the finals.

“Knox has wrestled very well as a freshman. He’s gone up against some grown men. He’s held his own and more this year as a ninth-grader. He’s done a really nice job anchoring our lineup at heavyweight.”

The Panthers are ready to make a name for themselves.

“This is what we work for all year-long,” Coach Dutchcot said. “We go out there at the District 5 level and show the district what we’re made of.”

A fourth title?

Chestnut Ridge’s Dominic Deputy enters the District 5 Tournament as a heavy favorite to claim his fourth district title.

Deputy, the No. 1 seed at 127, won a state title at 121 last season. He’s 42-2 with 29 falls this season and is 180-11 with 102 falls in his career. Deputy broke former teammate Easton Mull’s school career record of 99 pins and Justin McCoy’s school record for career wins of 167.

“Obviously him winning his fourth is a very cool thing,” Chestnut Ridge coach and Dominic’s dad Josh Deputy said. “He is already the all-time wins leader for District 5, and if everything goes right he needs one more fall to become the all-time pins leader.

“I think most important to Dom, though, is he gets to have this journey with his brother (Kooper) for one year.”

Freshman Kooper Deputy (107), freshman Carter Ickes (114), sophomore Austin Bernash (133), returning champion Trenden Willey (139) and two-time champion Jayden Imler (189) are also No. 1 seeds for the Lions, who are the favorites to win another team title.

“I’m very excited for this postseason,” Coach Deputy said. “I feel like we have a bunch of guys that can do some damage this year. We have been a good tournament team all year and I expect nothing different.”

Tussey Mountain’s returning champ Dakota Santamaria (121), Everett’s Canden Hillenbrand (145) and Bedford’s Cuyler Hale (160) are also top seeds for the tournament.

District 5 2A picks by Todd Irwin

107 POUNDS: Finalists: Kooper Deputy, Chestnut Ridge vs. Carter Christ, Conemaugh Township. Champion: Deputy. Comment: This will be the first of many postseason titles for Deputy in his career.

114 POUNDS: Finalists: Carter Ickes, Chestnut Ridge vs. Tucker Smith, Everett. Champion: Ickes. Comment: Northern Bedford’s Eli Dutchcot will get a shot at Smith in the semifinals.

121 POUNDS: Finalists: Dakota Santamaria, Tussey Mountain vs. Garrett Weyandt, Chestnut Ridge. Champion: Santamaria. Comment: Santamaria wins his second district title in his fourth finals appearance.

127 POUNDS: Finalists: Dominic Deputy, Chestnut Ridge vs. Lukas Smith, Berlin Brothersvalley. Champion: Deputy. Comment: Deputy captures his fourth district title. Tussey Mountain’s Kaden Husick is a probably semifinal opponent for Smith, who has beaten Husick twice, 7-6 and 5-3.

133 POUNDS: Finalists: Austin Bernash, Chestnut Ridge vs. Liam Berry, Everett. Champion: Bernash. Comment: Berry could be challenged by North Star’s Eli Mullen in the semifinals.

139 POUNDS: Finalists: Trenden Willey, Chestnut Ridge vs. Carter Kozielec, Bedford. Champion: Willey. Comment: Willey wins his second district title.

145 POUNDS: Finalists: Canden Hillenbrand, Everett vs. Brenden Schardt, Meyersdale. Champion: Hillenbrand. Comment: Chestnut Ridge’s Colby Kaufman could pose challenge for Schardt in the semifinals.

152 POUNDS: Finalists: Dawson Shaffer, Berlin Brothersvalley vs. Christian Feight, Chestnut Ridge. Champion: Shaffer. Comment: Returning District 5 champs wrestle each other after Feight beat Somerset’s No. 2 seed Sheeler.

160 POUNDS: Finalists: Cuyler Hale, Bedford vs. Caleb Sines, Meyersdale. Champion: Hale. Comment: Northern Bedford’s Brett Cottle could get a shot at Hale in the semifinals.

172 POUNDS: Finalists: Carter Durst, Berlin Brothersvalley vs. Cooper Porter, Meyersdale. Champion: Durst. Comment: Not sure if Carter is related to Fred Durst.

189 POUNDS: Finalists: Jayden Imler, Chestnut Ridge vs. Kasey Yoder, North Star. Champion: Imler. Comment: It’s good that two-time district champ Imler has bounced back from being carted off the mat at Altoona early in the season.

215 POUNDS: Finalists: Tyson Grove, Everett vs. Nolin Snider, Northern Bedford. Champion: Grove. Comment: Snider will get past Meyersdale’s Caleb Snyder and then get a chance at avenging a pin by Grove.

285 POUNDS: Finalists: Ian Koval, North Star vs. Gianni Browne, Meyersdale. Champion: Koval. Comment: Browne is 3-2 this season against Northern Bedford’s Knox Dibert. So that should be an interesting semifinal.

OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: Dominic Deputy, Chestnut Ridge

TEAM CHAMPION: Chestnut Ridge. Comment: Bedford could challenge for the second spot in the standings.